With the Nations League fixtures complete, attention now turns to the World Cup finals which get underway in Qatar in less than 60 days’ time. The German Football Federation (DFB) have revealed the bonusses the players will receive for participation in the finals, and they’ve caused a ripple of debate as to their justification.
The DFB will pay every national player €400,000 if they manage to win the World Cup. The revelation comes at quite a sensitive time politically as the cost-of-living crisis starts to pinch as the energy crisis in Europe begins to enter its winter phase with millions of people deeply concerned about their ability to make ends meet. This however will take place at the same time as the world’s biggest sporting event occurs in Qatar.
The €400,000 figure doesn’t represent an increase on the bonusses on offer for last year’s European Championships but does dwarf the €60,000 bonus the women’s team were on for their summer tournament.
The men will receive €50,000 for each player for winning the group in the preliminary round, €100,000 for reaching the quarterfinals and €150,000 for the semi-finals. The third place would be awarded with €200,000, while runners-up would get €250,000. First place in the first-round group E alone would bring Neuer and Co. more money than the German women received for second place at the European Championships in England.
Justified
Football, like it or not, is very much a business nowadays and the German squad can very much be seen as employees of the DFB being paid to do a job- bring the World Cup home.
Progress to the latter stages of the tournament will generate more money for the national federation and this ‘profit sharing’ is just an integral part of it. The sums are not extortionate when you look at the massive sums that will be generated and compare it to what some of the top players earn at club level.
Unjustified
The World Cup is about glory and the players picked would in all likelihood forego the bonus if it meant they were guaranteed to lift the trophy in December. Jamal Musiala revealed he wasn’t even aware there was such a bonus when he found out!
There is also the ethical issue. Dario Minden from the fan group ‘Unsere Kurve’ has called on the DFB to “donate every euro that you earn in this tournament, which is so wrong for so many reasons.” He suggests it goes to “funds that benefit the disenfranchised as well as the local LGBTQ community.”
Others have suggested a fund to help the families left behind of the numerous migrant workers, who have died in the construction of the various World Cup stadia.
